Horse passports: Minimum Operating Standards (MOpS) for Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs)

Failure to locate a transponder

103. This section applies to horses identified after 30th June 2009 and those horses identified before this date that have been implanted with a transponder which has been incorporated into their identification whose transponder cannot be located.

104. Where a horse can still be identified through a properly completed silhouette, a veterinary surgeon must implant a new transponder and complete the relevant sections of an application form. The appropriate original issuing PIO may then issue a duplicate passport.

105. Where the horse cannot be identified, then a replacement document may be issued. This can be carried out by any UK PIO, not just the original PIO.

106. In all cases where a passport is updated or issued for a horse whose original transponder cannot be located, the passport must be signed and stamped in Section II Part II (or Section IX Part II in pre-2016 issued passports) by the organisation to declare the horse as not intended for human consumption.

107. In all cases where a passport is updated or issued for a horse whose original transponder cannot be located, both the valid passport and the organisation’s database must display both old and new transponder numbers.

108. In all cases where a replacement or duplicate passport is issued for a horse whose original transponder cannot be located, the original passport must be returned to the PIO for invalidation.